Aug 24, 2012

Perfectly portioned banana splits in a jar that are decadently delicious, but won't hurt your waistline!

National Banana Split Day was tomorrow (Aug 25th) and Dole, the world’s largest banana provider set out to create a "No-guilt National Banana Split Day" to inspire food bloggers to make a healthier alternative, so naturally I was all over this!

The original banana split was created in 1904 by a 23-year-old Latrobe, Pa., pharmacist and is now one of America’s favorite desserts. At an average of 1,000 calories, it’s also one of the country’s biggest nutrition offenders.

Keeping the portions realistic, and using nonfat frozen yogurt in place of ice cream allows you to indulge without the guilt. Topped with whipped dairy topping and a cherry, who can resist this simple treat.

And yes, I went with a whipped topping made with real cream (Reddi Wip) because I feel the fat-free creams are just a whole lot of chemicals. Because it's mostly air, it's still relatively low in fat and calories. I'm really hoping someone out there can figure out how to make a healthier yet light whipped cream, the closest I found is truwhip. Hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Banana Split Day!

Place half of the banana slices in the bottom of each jar. Top each with 1/3 cup of frozen yogurt, then 1 tablespoon each of chocolate syrup. Finish with with the whipped cream and top with a cherry and get your spoons ready to dig in!

Great! I have a Home Goods near by. I found your blog about three weeks ago after joining WW online. Thanks to your delicious recipes, my family is happy at meal time, and I'm down 6 pounds :) Thanks for helping me so much on this journey!

Hi Gina- I'm in Northern California and their is a new product that we just had at our weight watchers meeting this week called FOAM. It is delicious and not full of chemicals. It is made with lf milk and sugar. I know currently it is only available locally. http://www.skinnywip.com/facts.html

I made this and absolutely loved it! What a treat! I'm thinking of sprinkling some cinnamon over the whipped cream or yogurt next time - I've heard it's healthy and I'm always looking for ways to include it. Gina, truly, thanks for all of these recipes. They inspire me to eat healthy and not feel punished. :)

Check out the bamix, it's an emersion blender that claims it can whip 1% milk. I've tried with mine and can't get it thick enough but at the local home fair they did it and it was awesome. I think I don't have the technique down pat.

Gina, you can make a low cal version of whipped cream with coconut milk. Here's one of many recipes: http://nuttykitchen.com/2010/06/01/coconut-whipped-cream/ And thank you for the banana split recipe!

From the pictures I was looking forward to trying this until I got to the recipe and realised the only ingredients available in Australia are the cherries and bananas. I would love more recipes with 'real' ;) ingredients please. Whipped topping is particularly hard to substitute as it seems to be uniquely American.

Hey, I have absolutely no idea if you'll ever see this, or if this will ever help anyone, but you can make whipped cream from coconut milk! Just google it for some instructions! (DO NOT USE LIGHT COCONUT MILK)